Telcom operators stealing from customers
Efosa Osagie, a civil servant, was shouting on top of his voice, at a “recharge card” seller, at the Computer Village area of Ikeja Lagos recently. His voice was so loud that it drew the attention of some of us that were around for something else. What was the issue? He tried loading a recharge card he bought from the lady card seller for the purpose of making an urgent call; he wasn’t succeeding. Obviously it was as a result of the usual regrettable network issues associated with Nigeria’s GSM history; but Efosa, a man in his early forties would take any of such line of thought, apparently out of frustration. He almost pounced on the innocent card seller for daring to “sell to him a card that he could load when he wanted it”. But on a closer encounter with Efosa, his angst was not just about the card, but also for a suspected illegal deduction of his credit units. According to him, he had some credit units when he checked his balance during the early hours of the day. He deliberately left the units for an “important” call he hopes to make later in the day. However, when it was time for him to use his credit, it turned out they have disappeared- he saw “00.00” credit balance. In an attempt to understand what happened, he called the “customer-care line” of his telecom network service providers; he was told that he subscribed to some “value-added services” . According to Efosa, “I am one thousand percent sure that I didn’t subscribe to any of such service”. Alright, convinced of the reality at hand, he begged to be removed from all other subscriptions to avoid future occurrence. Pained that he had been “robbed”, he frustration grew more when the card he bought for replacement wasn’t connecting”. And the man went “gaga”
But Efosa isn’t the only one that has the story of unlawful deduction/ non-transparent billing and exploitative automated services, one Tope Aladesokunro, a former banker shared her experience thus “I have never subscribed to any caller tune, but what did I get; after calls from my friends that they love my caller-tunes, I decided to call my phone with my other line; I was shocked to get five different caller-tunes. What that means is that every month, because each caller tune is charged fifty naira (N50.00) per month, they (her network operator) take two hundred and fifty naira (N250.00) from my account without my knowledge”. Tope concluded in disgust.
That telecom service providers have continued to exploit consumers through poor network, poor internet services and poor customer service, is no longer news, what must be resisted however in this fourteen years history of GSM in Nigeria, is the renewed unsolicited services, unsolicited text messages, unlawful deductions/non-transparent billing, and exploitative automated services, forced on hapless phone owners in Nigeria whose seem to have given up on the regulatory agencies created for their protection.
I must confess that until recently I didn’t know I was also a victim, and I can tell a good number of consumers are not aware they are been ripped-off. Imagine how many consumers that are ripped-off on a daily basis as a result of these “automated services” that they didn’t subscribe to? Imagine when a particular telecom provider unlawfully rip-off N50.00 from one million unsuspecting subscribers in a day. That’s fifty million naira (N50,000,000.00). If this is not stealing, then it is corruption obviously.
However, as it stands today, vast majority of Nigerian consumers can hardly get redress for infractions committed against them by service providers even in the face of the regulatory agencies including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Consumers Protection Councils (CPC) which have all the enabling laws to act, but seem encumbered. As a result this obvious incapacitation on the part of the regulatory agencies, the telecom providers have capitalized on it to continue to rip-off of Nigerian telecom consumers without end in sight.
Please NCC and CPC act now!
NCSA 2015: A Promise Kept
The organizers of the Nigeria Customer Service Awards (NCSA) made a bold statement on the importance of excellent customer service with this year’s edition of the award held at Four Point By Sheraton in Lekki area of Lagos this October. The event which coincided with this year’s International Customer Service Week was a an assemblage of who’s who in the customer service industry in Nigeria.
The well-attended award which is in its third year was described by convener, Dr. Ilias Aliyu, a customer service expert and consultant, as “the culmination of an eventful year of planning and resource mobilization”. It had courier giant, DHL and one of Nigeria’s e-commerce platform, Konga.com as sponsors with Mr. Allwell Nwankwo, author of two books on customer service, and Professor S. F. BrIisibe, a professor of medicine in the Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, as speakers. They both provided key insights into the current state of customer service in Nigeria and suggested ways of improving on it including for organizations to look into customer satisfaction and not just profit making.
Part of the event’s highlight was the presentation of the seven professionals of different backgrounds as Nigeria Customer Service Ambassadors representing the six geopolitical region of Nigeria and Africa. They include Oluwaseun Okegbemiro (South-west), Barr.Anyiam Uju Jessy (South-east), and Engr,Ebenezer Isokariari (JNR) (South-south). Other are Bulus Ladidi Lilian (North-cenral), AbdulAzeez Dikko (North-west) and Nkechi Okoroafor representing Africa. The idea behind the ambassadors according to Aliyu is to give a “boost and face to customer service in Nigeria”
Also at the event the “Mystery Shopping Report” was also launched which contains the technical evaluation of findings from secret investigations of customer service delivery in branches of nominated companies for NCSA 2015 across sectors in Nigeria. Ilias described it as “a high-value report supported with video and data evidence”.
According to Dr. Ilias “this is in our bid to preserve a truly transparent ratings system, tradition of sharing the details of the nomination and vetting processes, and also promised an improvement towards future events”
Some of the award winners include Konga.com as most supportive customer service company in Nigeria, Phase 3 Telecoms as Best Customer Service Network Management Company in Nigeria, Inspiration FM as Best Radio Station in Nigeria and Fortis Microfinance as Best Customer Service Microfinance Bank in Nigeria. Others include Globacom as Best Customer Service in Telecom, Diamond Bank as Best Customer Service Bank, Dana Air as Best Customer Service(Local Airline), and DHL as Best Customer Service Courier Company and Wakanow.com as Best in Hotel Booking and Ticketing. Smile was Best Customer Service Company in Internet Service Provision, Aso Savings and Loans PLC is the Best Customer Mortgage Bank Company in Nigeria 2015, and CHI limited as Best Customer Service (Beverage) company in Nigeria 2015. Also Shoprite was award the Best Customer Service Departmental Store in Nigeria, while kia is Best in Automobile and Jumia.com, Best in E-Commerce.According to Ilias the net years edition of NCSA is going to also hold during the International Customer Service week in October.
Arinze Okamelu
Arinze Okamelu is a Media Entrepreneur, Marketing Communication/Business Consultant with passion for customer focused marketing and excellent brands’ value delivery.